Editorial: The Aliens Colonial Marines Lawsuit Is Wrong

Aliens: Colonial Marines will likely be remembered as one of
the biggest disappointments of this generation of gaming. Sega and developer
Gearbox have rightly been vilified for the game's poor quality and their
failure to deliver on the promises they made to fans. However, the class action
lawsuit that has been filed against the companies is misguided and deserves to
fail.

Yesterday, the website Polygon reported that a California
class action lawsuit had been filed against Sega and Gearbox Software. It
alleges that the companies engaged in false advertising and that demos that
were shown of the game at various events were not representative of the
finished product (you can read more details on the suit here).

All of this is, to a degree, true. The finished product that
Sega and Gearbox delivered was shoddy, and was reviewed poorly by nearly every
major video game publication and website, including Game Informer. Its PlayStation
3 Metacritic rating currently stands at a paltry 43. However, this suit is
reckless and misguided. If successful, it could threaten the game industry's
future.

Here's the thing: this suit is attempting to seek legal
restitution for a game's perceived lack of quality. The key word in that
sentence is "perceived." Now, in this case, the prevailing opinion is
overwhelming: Aliens: Colonial Marines is a bad game. But on what basis? Whose opinion? What's the legal definition of a "bad game"?

The fact is that there is no reasonable way to quantify the
quality of a game. What's a good game to me might not be a good game to you.
I've been reviewing games at Game Informer for years, but I'm always struck by
the emails and letters I receive about games that I have given very negative
scores. There are games that I literally couldn't have imagined anyone
enjoying, yet I'll receive a passionate email from a fan telling me the ways in
which I failed to review it "correctly."

Every gamer has different metrics for what makes a game
enjoyable. To make matters more complicated, one person's metrics often change
from game to game. One of my colleagues, Joe Juba, recently told me that one of
his favorite games of his generation is Deadly Premonition. But even he admits
that the game is far from polished, and severely lacking in many technical
respects. However, in that case, Joe's love of the game's quirky characters and
odd sensibilities outweigh its faults. It's likely that there are people out
there who enjoyed playing Aliens: Colonial Marines, as poorly done as it is.

For this reason, I expect that this suit will gain little
traction in the court system. If games are truly an art form, then any work of
art is open to the individual's own opinions and values. Aliens: Colonial
Marines fails in many respects, but how can a court determine its quality on
any set criteria? It's impossible.

The suit also charges of false advertising and the claim
that early demos of the game shown were misleading. Frankly, that's true. For a
major press event or convention, developers work hard to show the game in the
best light, usually polishing a certain level or gameplay sequence to
perfection for the purposes of demonstration. By nature, it's an idealized view
of the game. Sometimes, the end product does not match what was suggested by
the demo. Other times, features that were originally in the game design prove
too technically challenging and are cut wholesale. In addition, there's the
question of whether press demos of a game even constitute "advertising" in the
first place.

As the press, we try to evaluate the demos that we see and,
hopefully, give consumers an accurate opinion of how good the game may turn out
to be. But it's not an exact science - and it's also not fair to judge a
complex product like a video game before it's done. I've seen it with my own
eyes. Prior to the release of the original Uncharted, Naughty Dog showed a demo
of the game at E3 that was, frankly, a bit of a mess. Many of the reports out
of E3 reflected these concerns. However, Naughty Dog spent those next months
wisely and delivered a very polished and entertaining game. Conversely, I've
seen games that looked amazing two years from release that never came together.

To be truly informed before launch, consumers must read
reviews, which is the only real way of knowing about the end quality of the
finished product without playing it themselves. In the case of Aliens: Colonial
Marines, the critical consensus was clear: the game is terrible. Judging by the
sales numbers, the reviews did their job of informing consumers that this game
wasn't worth buying.

The suit says that, by withholding review copies of games
and embargoing reviews until the day of release, Sega and Gearbox sought to
mislead gamers who preordered the game. Again, in some respects, the litigants
are not wrong. However, as the press, we have no legal right to receive review
code ahead of time. In fact, publishers send out review code to the press as a
courtesy. They could easily require us - and sometimes do in the case of
particular games - to go out and buy retail copies on launch day. This means
that reviews won't hit until as late as a week after launch. It's not a great
situation. But, make no mistake; Sega isn't required to give us copies of their
games.

If successful, this suit opens up game publishers to all
sorts of frivolous and damaging lawsuits. Not every game you buy is going to be
great, but that doesn't give you the right to seek damages. As a consumer, you
should stay vigilant, stay informed, and be skeptical of the claims that
publishers make. If you're concerned that a game might not be as good as
advertised, wait until the reviews go online before you make your purchasing
decision.

I suspect that this suit is in part a result of the desire
of gamers for Sega and Gearbox to be punished for their sins against the
Aliens franchise. But don't worry, they have already been punished by the
highest court in video games: the marketplace. I'm sure the millions that Sega
lost on this game will make it a lesson the publisher won't soon forget.